The Legacy of Karl Drerup

Founded by artist Rick Lowe in 1993, Project Row Houses was established on a site of 22 abandoned shotgun houses (c. 1930) to connect the work of artists with the revitalization of the community.

Ten of the twenty-two row houses are dedicated to art, photography, and literary projects, which rotate every six months. In seven houses is The Young Mothers Residential Program that provides transitional housing and services for young mothers and their children. An after-School Arts Education program works with 55 neighborhood children aged 5 to 13 years.

Nowak: “Place-making restores or creates links between local, city, and regional markets, making places both attractors and incubators for people, capital and ideas.”

As a case in point: After a decade of successfully generating programs that combine arts and cultural education, historic preservation, and community development, the future of the Third Ward is threatened by gentrification. To preserve and protect the irreplaceable historic and cultural legacy of the community, PRH spawned a sister organization, the Row House Community Development Corporation, to preserve and develop affordable housing.